A Certain Slant Of Light
by Pretty.Little.Liars
Summary: You do not love a woman because she is beautiful, but she is beautiful because you love her. ---- YumichikaOC
1. Welcome

**Title:** A Certain Slant Of Light  
**Author:** Ugly.Beautiful  
**Genre:** Romance… some angst I suppose.  
**Rating:** T… For some language, tell me if it's high enough, I have a bad mouth.  
**Pairing:** Yumichika x OC, eventual mentions of others  
**Spoilers:** Uhhh… none?  
**Summary:** You do not love a woman because she is beautiful, but she is beautiful because you love her.  
**Word Count:** 2,419  
**Warnings:** I have a horrible mouth, I tone it down for the fics, but well, with_ Bleach_ I have more opportunities to use it. Ha!

**Disclaimer:** Let's see… _Bleach_ belongs to Tite Kubo, the summery quote is _Anonymous_, the title belongs to Laura Whitcomb, song lyrics and chapter title belong to Christina Aguilera and Yumi belongs to me… Yeah, I said it… wanna FIGHT?!

**A/N:** Because I love Yumichika, and there are so not enough stories where he's.. well… straight. Lol.

* * *

_Welcome to the greatest show,  
__The greatest show on Earth  
__You've never seen before  
__Here the fairytale unfolds._

_What's behind the smoke and glass?  
__Painted faces everybody wears a mask  
__Are you selling them your soul?  
__Will you be left out in the cold?_

* * *

The first thing Arya was aware of when she forced her too-heavy eyes open was the pain. She hurt _everywhere_. And for a brief moment, she could not remember what had happened to her or where she was or even how she had gotten there. But then the bright lights dancing along the insides of her eyelids faded and she recognized the pristine white ceiling of the Forth Division.

The second thing she was aware of that she had been _unconscious in the Forth Division_. She bolted upright as fast as her incapacitated state would allow her. Too fast, it seemed, since the room began to spin violently and Arya felt what breakfast she had eaten (however many hours ago that was) rebel against her as her stomach churned nauseatingly.

Too bad she didn't have the luxury of being sick _or_ injured. As it was, she had been here for… She glanced around for a clock. Four-thirty. So… She estimated she'd been here for about four hours, five tops. Actually, she was surprised no one from her Division had barged in a long time ago and dragged her out by her hair. Guess she was having a lucky day.

At least until she hobbled back to her Division and one of the higher-ranked seats decided to beat it into her that she was weak. Like needed the reminding. And Unohana-taicho was going to be awfully angry when she found out that Arya had just up and left… Oh well.

Sliding to the floor, she shivered when her bare feet touched the cold tile of the Forth Division floor. She was pleased to see that her clothes were all cleaned and folded neatly at the foot of the bed, her sword placed carefully beside the pile. Fighting off the dizziness that standing up caused, she dressed as fast as she could, fingers brushing over the white bandages that had been wrapped tightly around her entire midsection, as well as from shoulder to wrist on her left arm. She ignored the fact that she could already see blood seeping through the bandages on her stomach.

As she strapped her zanpaktou to her left hip, she happened to glance up and catch a glimpse of herself in the small mirror across from the bed.

She titled her head at the image. The murky-brown, too-wide eyes, like pools of dirty water. A small nose, noticeably crooked from falling out of a tree as a child and begin hit in the face too many times. The prominent cheekbones that made her face seem sunken in, something not helped by the dark circles under her eyes. Thin, pale lips, almost white. And brown hair, the exact same shade of bloody mud, that fell to her waist, pulled forward in a great, tangled mess, framing her thin, colorless face; long bangs falling past her eyebrows, in order to hide as much of her face as possibly.

The mirror was too small for her to see anymore than her face, but there wasn't anything special about the rest of her either. Arya was tall and lanky. All arms and legs. With none of the grace of a dancer and all the clumsy, gangly movements of a newborn colt.

_You are you,_ came the disembodied voice of her sword. _And that is all that matters, yes?_

_If you say so, Naichingeru,_ Arya thought back. And before she had the chance to say anything else, the door to the room slammed open so hard the door slid off it's hinges.

The man in the doorway sneered at her, giving her a once over. "You seem fine to me, care to explain?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Madarame-san," Arya murmured, lowering her head respectfully to her third seat. "I awoke only moments ago." In retrospect, this was probably not the greatest thing she could have said, but it was better than coming up with something else. Something else which would have been a lie.

"Moments ago?!" Ikkaku yelled, flashing a glare at some unseated Forth Division member who tried to ask him to lower his voice, since this was a hospital. "You've been in here for _four hours_ and you're _just now_ getting your lazy ass out of bed?!"

Arya let her head sink down lower. "Gomen," she said lowly. She didn't have to look up to know that Ikkaku had a disgusted sneer plastered across his face as he looked at her.

"Fucking disgrace," he said to himself, although plenty loud enough for Arya (and anyone in the hallway) to hear. He sighed in loathing. "Come on, you worthless girl," he said, grabbing her by the arm. With a yank that rocked her head on her neck, he pulled her forward. "Let's go. Zaraki-taicho can deal with you, I can't even look at you." He hauled her through the doorway, kicked the boy trying to fix the door out of his way and started walking down the hall, muttering something along the lines of, "Can't _believe_ she's in the Eleventh Division. Waste of damn space."

Arya sighed and hurried after him, tripping when he let her arm go all of a sudden, and fell into step behind him. It didn't take them long to make their way to the Forth Division's exit, since the timid members of this squad parted like the Red Sea at the sound of Ikkaku's heavy and violent footsteps.

The bright sun outside partially blinded her and Arya held up a hand to shield her eyes. She only half-heard when someone called out the third seat's name. There Ikkaku stopped so abruptly that Arya, hard on his heels, nearly collided with him. He flashed her a brief glance filled with ill-concealed annoyance, before turning away.

"Yo, Yumichika. What's up?" He questioned as the effeminate man walked over gracefully.

The fifth seat shrugged. "Nothing, I just thought we could walk back to the Division together- what is _she_ doing here?" He asked suddenly, not even attempting to hide the revulsion in his voice as he finally noticed Arya standing behind his friend.

Ikkaku answered with an eye roll. "She's been in there all day," he said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder towards the Forth Division and nearly taking Arya's eye out in the process. Not that he seemed to care.

Yumichika sniffed disdainfully. "A pity they couldn't do something about that face of hers," he said, like she wasn't even there.

To her credit, Arya didn't even bat an eyelash at the insult. For one, Yumichika was someone with the face of an angel, but the personality of a blunt ax. And for two, it was nothing Arya hadn't heard before. The students at the Academy had liked to throw class-trash around, back when she had still been a student there. Orphan. Poor. Weak. Ugly. Worthless. Alone. Too pathetic to save her own brother. Too scared to fight for him, to die for him. Nothing but a frightened child. A cry-baby. A coward. A nobody. Arya had heard it all.

"Well, I guess we should start heading back," Yumichika said, violet eyes sliding from her to his friend. "Zaraki-taicho said he had something to speak with _us _about." Arya refrained from rolling her eyes when she heard the way he emphasized 'us' in that sentence. That's why she hated the higher-ranked shinigami. That tended to get that over-inflated ego air about them, that they knew their orders came from the Captain and yours came from someone much weaker than that. Just a subtle reminder that Arya was only ranked as fifteenth seat, one of the two people to hold that number in her squad.

Ikkaku nodded. "He can deal with her, too," he said, starting off towards the Eleventh Division and frowning in irritation when Arya followed like silent smoke in their wake.

-

The walk back to their compound was filled with Ikkaku and Yumichika's mindless chatter, about what, Arya neither knew nor cared, as it was none of her business. And Arya stayed out of other people's business. Arya just did what she was told.

It wasn't like she _wanted_ to be in the Eleventh Division. Hell, it wasn't like she wanted to be a shinigami _at all_. But her life wasn't about doing what she wanted to do, it was about doing what she needed to do. And she _needed_ to be in the Eleventh Division. She had _promised_. And ever since she had, ever since the day her brother had died, Arya's life had never been meant for her. It no longer mattered what she wanted, it only mattered what she promised.

She was jerked out of her reverie when suddenly something slammed into her midriff with the force of a train wreck. She hissed in through her teeth when the bubblegum-haired lieutenant smashed right into her wounds. But one glance from the two men she was walking with and she held in whatever pain-filled sound she was going to make and just stood there.

The pair she had walked here with eyed her strangely, as she stood there while Yachiru flitted around her like a hyperactive bumblebee. ("Ugly-lady has been gone for a long time." "Ken-chan is mad at you!" "Did Pachinko-head and Feathers come get you, that was nice." "Where have you been?" "Do you have any candy?")

Arya, to her credit, completely ignored it. There were a lot of things in the Eleventh Division that were… strange. Things that were odd the first time you joined their ranks. So it had only bothered Arya for a little while that her lieutenant had the attention span of a three-year-old on crack. Then she just learned to deal with it.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's going on out here?"

Yachiru immediately flung herself at her Captain, using Arya as a springboard, while Ikkaku and Yumichika called out greetings. Arya bowed low at the waist, the tips of her hair brushing the ground. "Zaraki-taicho," she murmured. She could feel the eye rolls at her behavior, but ignored it.

The truth was, Arya wasn't like the other shinigami in this division, a fact that was glaringly obvious. They were true combat junkies. Arya was just here. A fact that at the Eleventh Division members seemed the take great joy in reminding her of. She wasn't as good as them. Of course, _everyone else_ just saw some Eleventh Division battle-monger, so they didn't like her all that much either.

"Kurosowa," Zaraki said to her, "I see you decided to come back. Thought you might have been dead, what with how long you were gone for."

It wasn't a question, so she didn't answer.

Her captain huffed, before turning to the other two. "I wanted to tell you two that old-man Yamamoto is sending a team back to Kurosaki's town. Something about Hollow numbers and something." He shrugged. "Whatever."

"He said there were new Hollows to fight," Yachiru chirped up from Zaraki's shoulder. "That they were different than normal. Nanao-chan thinks because of all the Arracar that have been around there lately." She crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue. "Nanao-chan is so boring."

_New types of Hollow?_ Arya thought. She frowned lightly to herself. That sounded like a bunch of bad joo-joo to her.

"Kurosowa!"

She snapped to attention. "Yes, Zaraki-taicho?"

"I don't have time to deal with you right now, so just…go with these two to talk to Hitsugaya, see if that boy can take you with him or something."

Ikkaku sputtered indignantly. "W-what?! Taicho you- you can't! She can't come with us! She's so…" He groped blindly in the air, searching for a word. "Useless," he settled on pathetically.

Their captain shrugged. Clearly he was lethargic on sake and was too drunk to care. Either that or… he just really didn't care.

Ikkaku frowned when Zaraki told him something along the lines of, "Deal with it," and walked away, already yelling at someone in the courtyard. The bald-shinigami turned to Arya with a thunderous glare, like all of this was her fault.

"If something attacks you in Karakura Town, I will not help you," he told her firmly, before turning towards the Tenth Division barracks and walking away with Yumichika, clearly just expecting her to follow.

Arya sighed when he told her that. She wouldn't have expected him to help her anyway. And with that, she hurried after the pair of them.

* * *

_Is it all blue skies?  
__Fun and games until you fall  
__Then you're left without anyone at all.  
__You're riding on a shooting star  
__With a smile upon your face  
__But soon the shine fades._

_And you're left out all alone,  
__Wondering, where did it all go?_

* * *

**A/N:** Yeah, so, I'm not thrilled with the ending of this chapter, but I want to get to the other stuff while it's still in my head. I might come back and tweak the last page-ish or so later. Maybe…

Also, trying to make Yumichika get along, let alone fall in love, with someone who is not a supermodel is not easy. But, I plan to give him hell once I do, just because he's fun to toy with. Mwhahaha! Let their be the unrequited (at least for a little while) crush from hell! HA!

And the name of Arya's zanpaktou, Naichingeru, means 'nightingale.'

Reviews are love!


	2. Lady

**Title:** A Certain Slant Of Light  
**Author:** Ugly.Beautiful  
**Genre:** Romance… some angst I suppose.  
**Rating:** T… For some language, tell me if it's high enough, I have a bad mouth.  
**Pairing:** Yumichika x OC, eventual mentions of others  
**Spoilers:** Uhhh… none?  
**Summary:** You do not love a woman because she is beautiful, but she is beautiful because you love her.  
**Word Count:** 3, 190  
**Warnings:** I have a horrible mouth, I tone it down for the fics, but well, with _Bleach_ I have more opportunities to use it. Ha!

**Disclaimer:** Let's see… _Bleach_ belongs to Tite Kubo, the summery quote is _Anonymous_, the title belongs to Laura Whitcomb, song lyrics and chapter title belong to Regina Spektor and Yumi belongs to me… Yeah, I said it… wanna FIGHT?!

**A/N:** Because I love Yumichika, and there are so not enough stories where he's.. well… straight. Lol.

**Note: Flashbacks are in italics in this chapter! I apologize in advance for how many there are.**

* * *

_Lady sings the blues so well, as if she mean it.  
__As if it's hell down here in this smoke-filled world  
__Where the jokes are cold  
__They don't laugh at jokes, they laugh at tragedies._

_Corner-street societies  
__But they believe her, they never leave her  
__While she sings she makes them feel things.  
__She says I, can sing, this song so blue  
__That you will cry, in spite of you  
__Little wet tears on your baby's shoulder.  
__Little wet tears on your baby's shoulder…_

* * *

Arya was silent the entire walk to the Tenth Division, not that it was that long of a walk to begin with. But Arya didn't like to draw too much attention to herself, she preferred being silent and just watching. It was amazing the kinds of things one could learn when people ignored you or didn't notice you for one reason or another. And it's not like she tried to be sneaky. People just tended to overlook her.

At the Tenth Division office, Ikkaku, with his usually disregard for tact, flung open the door and stalked in without knocking.

"Matsumoto, I told you-!" The short, white-haired captain stopped, realizing that it was not his lieutenant who had walked into his office uninvited. "Madarame-san, Ayasegawa-san," he said. He leaned sideways in his desk, noticing someone behind them. "Kurosowa-san," he said, nodding politely to her.

_She was screaming. She was screaming and she couldn't stop. How… how could this have happened? He was stronger than that, wasn't he? Wasn't that why he went to the Academy?_

_She fell to the ground, the hard surface jarring her knees painfully, but she was beyond caring at the moment, beyond feeling. She reached forward, hands trembling, arms shaking, tears streaming down her face. Her brother… her only brother… her only family…_

"_I promise… I promise… I promise…" It fell from her lips like a mantra. She didn't notice the world around her, didn't notice anything but her brother's body, his lifeless body. So quiet… so still…_

_She did notice when the shinigami showed up to help her, to help her brother, to save him. But it was already too late. They arrived to find Arya screaming like a lunatic over the crumpled, broken form of her older sibling, kneeling in the red-soaked earth and cradling his still sluggishly bleeding body to her chest, rocking back-and-forth._

_Someone tried to pull her away from him, but as soon as they forced the body out of her arms and yanked her to her feet, she threw herself to the ground again and used every inch of her body, not to fight against them, but simply not to go._

"_Come on, girl, cut it out," someone said, grabbing her arm and pulling her to her feet, their hold hard enough to leave bruises._

"_Stop being so insensitive."_

_The person let go of her abruptly, mumbling, "Yes, taicho." But Arya wasn't listening, she had already turned, intent on her brother, but was stopped again._

"_You shouldn't look at him like this," someone said, voice commanding, but still softer than the person before him. "You don't want your last memory of him to be like this." A gentle hand was placed on her shoulder. "Do you?"_

_It was that last, quietly whispered question that made Arya's knees give out as she gave a keening wail and collapsed. Before she hit the ground, arms wrapped around her and held her up. Turning in the embrace, she buried her face in a pale neck and cried and cried._

_The person holding her was stiff as he held her, but Arya's hands were fisted in the white captain's haori so he couldn't really go anywhere._

"_Hey! Where-"_

"_Over here, Matsumoto," the person holding Arya said, one hand making a jerky movement against her back, like he wanted to help her, but really didn't know how._

_Arya could hear shinigami behind her, covering up her brother and getting ready to move the body, so she pressed her face harder into the neck in front of her, whimpering pitifully. Suddenly, feminine fingers were prying hers away from the haori she was gripping._

"_It's alright, sweetie, I'll help you," she smooth female voice was right next to her ear. "Hitsugaya-taicho has important things to do."_

_Arya leaned back, startled that she had been sobbing and crying hysterically into the neck of a Captain. Emerald eyes regarded her coolly through a fringe of snowy hair, though there was an edge of sadness to them, a slight hint of pity._

"_It's alright, Matsumoto," the boy said. "I think she should come to the Seireitei anyway, she could have some talent like her…" He trailed off. "Well, she should go there, on any account."_

_The golden-haired woman looked like she wanted to say something, but snapped her mouth closed at her captain's glare. "Right, taicho, of course." She turned and walked away, telling someone to hurry up and that they were leaving._

_Arya kept her gaze firmly in front of her, concentrating on not listening to what was going on behind her and persistently ignoring the steady flow of silent tears that were streaming down her face._

_The white-haired captain in front of her looked uneasy. "I…" He glanced away from her. "I am sorry for your loss," he said finally._

_Arya just nodded mutely. Her only family… what would she do now? How could she do what her big brother wanted her to do? She had to find a way, but…_

"_Come on."_

_Arya started, staring blankly at the hand held out to her. "Tai…cho…?"_

"_It's Hitsugaya-taicho," he said. "Of the Tenth Division." He held his hand out farther. "Now let's go, you shouldn't… stay here any longer," his eyes flickered briefly behind her. "I'll take you to Seireitei. Alright?"_

_After a long moment, Arya nodded, and took the offered hand._

Arya nodded, back at the small captain. If she had had her way, she would have preferred to be in the division of the man who had saved her (prolonged her misery) all those years ago. But she hadn't promised to be in the Tenth Division, now had she?

_When she heard the static-y sound of a portal disappearing, she grinned. Her brother was home! It was a good thing the Seireitei let him use a portal to get here, they lived so far outside the city walls, that it would take forever for him to get here, even if he flash-stepped._

_Setting down the instrument in her arms (a guitar, a present from her brother from a mission to the human world) and jumping up, skirt billowing around her knees, she ran towards the front door._

"_Onii-chan!" She called gleefully, as she got closer. "I wrote a new song today! You have to… listen…" She trailed off as she opened the door. "Onii-chan…?" She called, taking a few steps towards him._

_Her brother was standing a few yards from the door. His shinigami uniform was torn, the top almost falling completely off his shoulder. Even as she watched, the zanpaktou he had been holding limply in his hand clattered to the ground. But his back was to her, she couldn't see his face. He normally ran to the door to greet her._

"_Onii-chan?" She called again._

"_Arya-chan," he said suddenly, voice rough, ragged, tired. "I'm sorry."_

_She took a jerky step forward. "What…"_

"_I know I promised I'd protect you for always, that I'd watch you become a singer just like you always wanted, but I'm sorry."_

_Arya frowned. Nothing he said was making any sense. It was hard enough to understand him as it was, since every few words he stopped and coughed. "What are you talking about?" She asked, taking another step forward._

"_Promise me something," he continued, like he hadn't heard her._

"_What are you talking…"_

"_Please, please finish my dream for me." He doubled over coughing and when he stood again, Arya could hear him panting raggedly for air. "To be a member of the Eleventh Division under Zaraki-taicho." He coughed again._

"_But, onii-chan, why do I have to do it?"_

_That was when he turned to fact her and Arya paled when she saw the blood on his chest, dripping from his mouth. "Please, I… can't…" He gasped. "Mission went… wrong… Hollow behind me… please… promise me…" He smiled, teeth red, before thudding heavily to his knees. Then a gasped out, "love… you… little sister…" right before he tumbled over sideways._

_That was when she started screaming._

Staring at the captain at the desk in front of the trio, Arya was glad it was him and not someone less… consoling who had come to help. Not that Hitsugaya-taicho was very comforting. But it could have been worse, she supposed. It could have been Mayuri-taicho or Zaraki-taicho. She shivered. Yes, it could have been worse.

"A new type of Hollow, yes, that's what all the reports point to." Hitsugaya's drew Arya's thoughts back into the room. He sighed and ran a hand over his face, before resting his chin on his palm, staring at them. "And you're coming with us this time?" The question was directed at Arya.

She started to nod, but was interrupted when Ikkaku snorted. "Zaraki-taicho said to ask ya if she could go with us." He frowned. "Feel free to say no."

Hitsugaya ignored him, staring at Arya until she bobbed her head at him hesitantly. He nodded once, firmly. "Good," he said, standing and, still addressing Arya, said, "Come with me to find my lieutenant."

Ikkaku's eyes almost bugged out of his head. "Taicho-!"

Hitsugaya held up a hand. "Go send a butterfly to Yamamoto-soutaicho and inform him we will leave in approximately thirty minutes. And go find Abarai." Without waiting for an answer he swept out of the room, grabbing on to Arya's elbow as he passed her, and pulling her with him.

He released her once the reached the hall, glaring at her when she tried to fall back and walk behind him. She sighed in resignation and fell into step beside him.

"I hear you got promoted to Fifteenth Seat last month."

It wasn't really a question, but Arya mumbled an affirmative anyway.

Hitsugaya glanced at her out of the corner of her eye, glancing up at least a foot so he could look at her face. "Congratulations."

"… Thank-you." Surprise colored her voice.

He snorted. "Don't sound so surprised," he said, before giving the Tenth Division courtyard a sweeping glance. But it was noticeably devoid of strawberry-blonde hair, so they moved on.

Arya glanced at him sideways, opened her mouth, closed it again. Finally she asked, "Could you… help me?"

"Hm?" Teal eyes were regarding her in interest.

"Be promoted more seat levels," she clarified. He was silent for so long that Arya began to fear she had insulted the frosty captain. "I'm sorry, forgive me for being so forward, I simply thought-"

He held up one hand, a smirk tugging at one corner of his lips. "It is not that Kurosawa-san. I simply do not think I am best suited to help you. Perhaps…" He frowned. "I shall have to think about it." He smirked sideways at her.

Arya smiled softly at him in spite of herself. The small captain had been a close friend of hers since she first started to become a shinigami. Wasn't he the one who offered to enroll her in the Academy? The boy seemed to have a soft spot for her, since he was the one who had brought her into this world of death gods and soul slayers. Too bad he couldn't have helped her more once she graduated. The Eleventh Division was not an easy place to be forced to grow up.

"_We shall not shed tears. For tears mean the defeat of the body to the heart. And to us, that simply proves the existence of a heart… is a burden."_

_That was the first thing she had been told when Hitsugaya-taicho had walked her to the enrollment office of the Shinigami Academy. The stern-faced man at the desk at frowned disapprovingly at her red, tear-streaked face as she continued to cry. The look of disappointment on the face of a man she had never met before made Arya stiffen her spine, square her jaw, and scrub furiously at her eyes. Her brother was a strong shinigami. If he could follow these rules, then so could she. If she wanted to keep her promise to him… she had to._

_And so Arya hadn't cried. Not once, since the day she enrolled in the Academy._

_The Academy had taught her a lot, it was true. The most important being: do not show weakness. Or else your Captain will hand you your ass._

_But she had trained. And trained and trained and trained. After graduation, she petitioned her placement in the Tenth Division and joined the Eleventh instead. But her brother had wanted to be the best that he could be, so she wouldn't settle for being some lowly squad member. Not if she could become stronger. So she continued training._

_But it was hard, it was so hard… The Eleventh Division members weren't concerned with feelings of camaraderie like many of the other squads. They were concerned with fighting. And it seemed to Arya that they were always fighting someone - whether it was their own squad members, or shinigami from other squads, it just didn't seem to matter to them, as long as they could fight._

_Because sooner or later, as Arya swiftly found out, when her new Captain was involved, you always ended up fighting._

_The first week there had been hell. Drills and tests. Tests and drills. To weed out the weak ones._

"_You guys suck." The bald third-seat of the division told the new recruits one day after they had been sparring for hours. "But don't beat yourselves up about it," he told them, unsheathing his zanpaktou with a grin, "that's my job."_

_Arya wasn't sure was exactly he was attacking his own squad members in such a vicious fashion, but this was the Eleventh Division, so maybe he thought it was amusing. But the only thing she knew was that when she saw him swing his still unreleased sword at her head after mowing down a dozen recruits, she had thought she was going to die. Her survival instincts taking first place to her training, Arya had ducked, hands curled protectively over the back of her neck._

_But the blow never came and when Arya peaked hesitantly up to see why a hush had fallen over everyone, she swallowed thickly when she realized Zaraki-taicho was looming over her like the vengeance of God._

_The force of his first blow knocked the girl from her feet. Yelping, she tried to scramble out of the way of a second lashing, but he grabbed her by the hair and forced her to look at him. "Fear," he had all but growled into her petrified face, "is for prey." He leered at her as he realized the death-grip he had on her. "Are you prey, Kurosowa?"_

_Not even contemplating that he knew her name, Arya shook her head so hard her hair went flying all over the place. "No sir, I-" She screeched when he attacked her again. "I'm not prey. I'm not. I-" The Captain punctuated each denial with another blow, kicking the helpless girl for good measure._

_When the blows ceased, Arya looked up, up, up, at her tall Captain, who was staring disdainfully down at her._

_That's when Zaraki-taicho gave Arya the best and worst advice she had ever received all in two simply words: "Suck less."_

_She stared at his retreating back for a moment, before frowning._

_Fine._

Twenty years later she was Fifteenth Seat. Or one of them. Pretty good for someone whose only talent growing up had been her voice. Pretty good for someone who had never been in a fight or even held a sword before joining the Academy. Pretty good, indeed.

Arya glanced away from Hitsugaya-taicho when someone came flying around the corner laughing loudly. And when the jovial woman walked straight into her, Arya just stopped and nodded her head. "Matsumoto-fukutaicho."

"Arya!" The woman threw her arms around the stiff girl in front of her. "How many times do I have to tell you to call me Rangiku?"

Arya shook her head as the pair (followed by Matsumoto's eye-rolling Captain) turned back to find the others. "It would be improper fukutaicho," Arya explained.

Matsumoto pouted. "I thought we were friends." She brightened. "But in Ichigo-kun's school you'll _have_ to call me Rangiku! We'll be classmates then!"

Arya seemed startled. "I-"

"Let it go, Kurosowa-san," came Hitsugaya from slightly behind her. "It's easier to just ignore it."

So Arya closed her mouth, nodded, and followed the exuberant blonde over the group waiting to leave for the human world.

Abarai Renji. Ayasegawa Yumichika. Madarame Ikkaku. Matsumoto Rangiku. Hitsugaya Toshiro.

And her. Kurosowa Arya.

Twenty years ago her Captain had told her to "Suck less." And she had trained to prove her brother's worth. To prove her own worth.

And now they were heading into Karakura Town to face a new type of Hollow that no one seemed to know anything about. If there was ever a chance for her to prove her worth, it was probably coming up pretty soon.

She nodded to herself, pretending she didn't see Ikkaku's eye roll and Yumichika's haughty sniff.

Suck less.

Fine. She could do that.

* * *

_Lady lights a cigarette  
__Puffs away, the winter comes  
__And she, forgets…_

* * *

**A/N: **I wanted people to get an introspective look on how Arya came to be in the Eleventh Division and why she needs to stay there. After all, it's not a place most people like Arya, quiet and reserved are likely to be found. So I explained her promise to her brother.

And yes, it is a little Mary-Sue-ish for her to want to sing.

But A.) The people in Soul Society who are NOT shinigami have to have something to do with their afterlife, and I'm beating the people who could enjoy singing in life, would enjoy it in death, even if they can't remember doing it.

B.) This adds to the overall effect of Arya being soft and gentle, a counterpoint to her rough-and-tumble division mates. Even Yumichika, who hates to be dirty, enjoys a good fight.

C.) I called her zanpaktou "Nightingale" for a reason, people, not because I liked the name.

So, yeah, don't hark on me for that. There's gotta be SOME people in the afterlife who want to sing for a living… death… whatever. Arya is one of them. It also means she dedicated enough to forget about her own dreams and keep her promise. Though whether this is particularly good for her remains to be seen.

Also, the song really doesn't fit as well as I would have liked it to, but it's a really good song. Kind of blues-y and soulful. So… Who cares?

And sorry about all the italics!

So… help with grammar. I caught some, but I'm pretty sure I didn't get them all. And I am too tired and sick right now to go back and nit-pick for them. So help… please?

And yes, Zaraki-taicho is evil. XP


	3. In My High School

**Title:** A Certain Slant Of Light  
**Author:**  
**Genre:** Romance… some angst I suppose.  
**Rating:** T… For some language, tell me if it's high enough, I have a bad mouth.  
**Pairing:** Yumichika x OC, eventual mentions of others  
**Spoilers:** Uhhh… none?  
**Summary:** You do not love a woman because she is beautiful, but she is beautiful because you love her.  
**Word Count:** 1, 933  
**Warnings:** I have a horrible mouth, I tone it down for the fics, but well, with_ Bleach_ I have more opportunities to use it. Ha!

**Disclaimer:** Let's see… _Bleach_ belongs to Tite Kubo, the summery quote is _Anonymous_, the title belongs to Laura Whitcomb, song lyrics and chapter title belong to Blaine Larsen and Yumi belongs to me… Yeah, I said it… wanna FIGHT?! (Okay, fine, I shall share him with DelMarch for fear of bodily harm. XP)

**A/N:** Because I love Yumichika, and there are so not enough stories where he's.. well… straight. Lol.

_

* * *

_

In my High School, there's some who think they're as tough as they can be.

_But when I look in their eyes, all I see is insecurity.  
__And in my High School, there's some who'll wait, there's some who won't.  
__Some that cross lines and some that don't.  
__We've got outcasts and we've got rebels,  
__Mostly saints, sometimes devils.  
__You see them walking up and down the hall.  
__And they struggle with their boyfriends, their girlfriends, and their math.  
__And they long for the bell that gets them out of class.  
__In my High School..._

* * *

Her internal clock told her it was still early, when she heard someone rummaging in the kitchen. Quietly, like they were trying not to wake her. Blinking, she sat up, rubbing at her eyes with the heel of her hands as she yawned widely.

The futon she was laying on took up almost all the floor space in Sado Yasutora's small living room. And since the room led straight into the small kitchen, it was only understandable that the gently clinking dishes woke her. Finding a small clock propped up next to the television, she read just after six thirty. She shrugged and started rolling up the futon.

When everything looked just as she had left it, she wandered into the kitchen, yanking out the tie that was holing back her long hair and letting it spill around her shoulders.

"Did I wake you?"

Startled at his quiet voice, Arya shook her head at Chad, mumbling lowly, "It's alright. We wake up early for training in my Division anyway."

He nodded and resumed making, what Arya assumed was, his bento for lunch.

Feeling a gentle tug on her arm, she glanced down to see a small turtle plushie on the counter, lightly pushing a cup of tea towards her.

Her lips quirked upwards in a small smile. "Arigato… Nova-san?" She asked, making sure she remembered his name correctly. After all, she had only met him yesterday and he had looked different then.

-

The Living World had always fascinated Arya. When her brother bad still been alive, he'd gone assignments there more than once, and loved to bring her back trinkets and presents. A picture. Something called a "_boom-box_" that played "_CDs_." A guitar. That was the last thing he had brought her. And humans had such interesting music. The style changed all the time. And oftentimes Arya wished she could be given an extended assignment in the Living World to patrol some town, that way she could learn more about the things Soul Society didn't have. "_Rock music_" and "_hip-hop_." She thought it was fascinating.

But Yamamoto-soutaicho never sent Eleventh Division members on extended assignments in the Living World. They were too volatile, too unstable, too much risk involved. So she never got the chance.

But she could see now! She was holding herself back from bouncing on her feet as they exited the Senkai Gate into the Urahara Shoten.

"Welcome!"

Glancing around at the huge room they had appeared in (where they outside?)m Arya took in the man dressed in green waving a fan in front of his face. Everyone around her greeted him, having already met and spent time with him before. When he turned to her and grinned, Arya immediately stopped looking around and bowed. "Konnichiwa, Urahara-san," she murmured lowly. "I'm Kurosawa Arya. I am pleased to meet you, sir."

"So polite!" He sing-songed and Arya felt him tap her chin upwards with his closed fan. "No need to be so formal, Arya-chan!"

Cheeks coloring slightly in embarrassment, she stood. "H-hai! Urahara-san," she added. She couldn't help it. It was habit.

Minutes later, she had to stop herself from gaping stupidly as the group climbed the later and she realized that that giant place was _underground_. Following the ex-Twelfth Division Captain into the small sitting room, they arranged themselves around the table and stared at Urahara expectantly.

Urahara was smiling at them, fan waving back and forth in front of his face. "Let's wait for tea!"

"Urahara!" Hitsugaya snapped. "We do not have time for this."

The blond pouted. "You're so serious Hitsugaya-taicho." This was followed by a sigh. "It started a few weeks ago."

"We noticed something strange going on with the Hollows."

Simultaneously, everyone turned as the door slid open and Rukia stepped in, closely followed by the substitute shinigami and his friends. Shifting to make room for everyone proved difficult and Arya found herself in the background, leaning against the wall and just listening. She glanced over at the tall, silent boy beside her, then back to Rukia as she started to explain.

"Usually the number of Hollows in the Living World stays pretty even except in extreme cases," she said, "but lately there's been less and less of the weaker Hollows and-"

"-and more of the big-fry," Ichigo cut it. "And they've got some strange way of fighting that makes it almost impossible to get close enough to them to kill." His frown deepened. "It sucks."

"Well said, Kurosaki-san!" Urahara chimed in. when everyone stared at him blankly, he continued. "I had Nova run some scans on the last one Kurosaki-san ran into," he gestured to the door and it slid back revealing three people Arya was not familiar with, "isn't that right?"

"Hai," answered the one with the hood and the striking green eyes, before he vanished and reappeared leaning against the wall near Arya.

"Nova's scan said that the Hollows were fighting with some strange type of sound manipulation. Almost like echolocation," the little blonde girl said, seating herself so close to Ichigo she was practically in his lap. "That's why it's hard to get close to them."

"But it doesn't explain why we can't attack them from a distance," the glasses-wearing boy Arya remembered as the last Quincy said, "Even though I attack from a substantial distance, it does no good and my arrows miss."

Urahara nodded. "Which is exactly why Soul Society sent this team to find out."

"We'll have to divide up patrols," Hitsugaya said. "No engaging the enemy unless absolutely necessary. We're strictly gathering information first. And we have to be certain this scenario can't be linked to Aizen."

The somber atmosphere was broken when Matsumoto let out a squeal and lunged at the girl next to her. "We get to stay with Orihime-chan again! Ne, taicho?"

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes, but stood, answering with e tired-sounding, "Yes, Matsumoto," as the two girls began to rapidly speak about cooking in high-pitched, excited voices.

"Your gigais are in the entrance way," Urahara called helpfully over the noise, and Hitsugaya immediately pulled the two females after him, followed by the man with the two-toned hair.

For a while, Arya just stood silently as everyone quietly conversed and went their separate ways. The Quincy boy, who formally introduced himself to her as Ishida Uryuu, left shortly after Hitsugaya-taicho did.

"Keigo still letting you stay with him," Ichigo asked her two squad members.

Ikkaku shrugged. "Dunno." He glanced at Yumichika. "Guess we'll go find out." And with that, they sauntered out.

Ichigo stared after them for a while, before turning to the remaining people. "Hey, I don't think I've met you before," he said, just noticed Arya. "Kurosaki Ichigo, substitute shinigami."

She bowed. "Kurosawa Arya. It's an honor to meet you Kurosaki-san."

Ichigo blushed, looking away and rubbing at the back of his head in embarrassment. "Yeah, well…" He looked back at her suddenly. "Hey were are you staying? You staying here with Renji?"

She blinked. "I…"

"Sado-san has no one staying with him, I believe," Urahara chimed in.

"Sado-san?" Arya repeated confusedly.

"Sado Yasutora," the tall, silent boy beside her rumbled in a deep voice.

Arya turned to him. "I don't want to intrude…"

"… It's not a problem."

Another bow, lower this time. "Thank you very much, Sado-san, I'll stay out of the way."

-

And that's how she found herself here. It wasn't so bad, really. The apartment was small, but Arya was good at staying out of the way. She watched for a moment as Sado (or Chad, as she had hear numerous people call him) in the kitchen, before turning and heading towards the bathroom. She might as well get ready for school.

-

An hour later, standing in front of the 1-3 classroom, she realized that she didn't really care for the human school's idea of a uniform. She felt exposed, naked. And it didn't help that Matsumoto had attacked her on the way in and told her that no one wore their skirts to their knees, and proceeded to roll it up until it fell to mid-thigh. She felt strange in these clothes.

Just as she was reaching out to open the door, it was pulled open from the inside and Arya suddenly found herself staring at her Division's fifth seat, who looked equally shocked to see her standing there.

Yumichika meanwhile, arched a brow at the young woman in front of him. "Kurosawa?" A curious, and slightly surprised expression fleeted across his face when he took her in from top to bottom, the long hair still everywhere, but smooth and brushed, Matsumoto's doing no doubt. "You clean up… pretty," he murmured, glancing her up and down once more. "Yes, almost pretty…"

A light rose appeared on her cheeks as she awkwardly slid into the room and inclined her head at him. "A-arigato, Ayasegawa-san," she mumbled, still red, before turned and walking further into the classroom.

Yumichika watched her with a strange look on his face. The difference between Kurosawa in the baggy, black shinigami uniform and Kurosowa in the human-world school uniform was… intriguing. She still looked lanky and out of place, all gangly limbs and long hair, but, without the shapeless shinigami uniform hakama, he could see what that uniform hid.

She was skinny, very skinny. Not shinigami-slender, but _thin_. Muscles covered in skin. And… had she always been hiding legs like that? Maybe it was because they were so long…

He shrugged. Whatever. She was still weak. And nice-looking legs didn't change a not-so-nice-looking face. And with that he wandered off to find Ikkaku.

* * *

_In my High School, there's some who study for their entrance exams.  
__Some who just wanna play guitar in some rock-and-roll band.  
__And in my High School, the seniors just cannot wait for June.  
__But they don't realize that we grow up way too soon.  
__They'll be doctors, they'll be lawyers;  
__Teachers and warriors.  
__And they'll struggle with their jobs, their husbands, and their wives.  
__And they'll talk about "the best days of their lives."_

* * *

**A/N:** Wow… this chapter sucks. Yes it does. Lol. I was going to make it a little longer, but it just didn't go together well. So _next_ chapter Arya get to play a little music.

Also… Ichigo is in class 1-3, right? Freshman class (1) and I know the ranking list in an early episode showed it being class 3. Correct me if I'm wrong. Maybe it was 'A,' ...?

Oh and I just realized this, I named her Arya, cause I like the name and I noticed if you spell it "Aria" (they sound the same) it's a type of solo piece in an opera. Ha-ha. AND I somehow (unconsciously, I swear) gave her a bird-named zanpaktou (for a legitimate reason, I swear!), when Yumichika's zanpaktou is a bird, too. Signs!

Sorry for the wait and the absolute suckiness of this chapter. I rewrote this chapter because the first time I wrote it, it didn't make any sense.

Till next time!


	4. Of All The Gin Joints In All The World

**Title:** A Certain Slant Of Light  
**Genre:** Romance… some angst I suppose.  
**Rating:** T… For some language, tell me if it's high enough, I have a bad mouth.  
**Pairing:** Yumichika x OC, eventual mentions of others  
**Spoilers:** Uhhh… none?  
**Summary:** You do not love a woman because she is beautiful, but she is beautiful because you love her.  
**Word Count:** 2,756  
**Warnings:** I have a horrible mouth, I tone it down for the fics, but well, with_ Bleach_ I have more opportunities to use it. Ha!

**Disclaimer:** Let's see… _Bleach_ belongs to Tite Kubo, the summery quote is _Anonymous_, the title belongs to Laura Whitcomb, song lyrics and chapter title belong to Fall Out Boy and Yumi belongs to me… Yeah, I said it… wanna FIGHT?! (Okay, fine, I shall share him with DelMarch for fear of bodily harm. XP)

**A/N:** Because I love Yumichika, and there are so not enough stories where he's.. well… straight. Lol.

* * *

_You only hold me up like this, cause you don't know who I really am  
__Sometimes I just want to know what's it's like to be you.  
__We're making out inside crashed cars; we're slipping through all our memories.  
__I used to waste my time dreaming of being alive  
__(Now I only waste it dreaming of you.)_

* * *

Ayasegawa Yumichika was bored. Out-of-his-mind, counting-ceiling-tiles-to-pass-the-time, bored. He gave a long-suffering sigh as he glanced around the classroom again.

Most of the human world-dwellers were dutifully taking notes. Ishida, Chad, and Orihime-chan were all paying attention like the good students they were, as the teacher droned on and on about to properly answer critical thinking questions. He could just make out that Ichigo, from where the substitute sat several seats back and to his left, was staring moodily out the window, no doubt pissed about not having a good fight lately. Hitsugaya-taicho was staring at the teacher, but the glazed over look in his eyes, meant his mind was somewhere else. In the seat behind the white-haired captain, his lieutenant was resting her chin on her hand and was asleep, just like Ikkaku, sitting behind Yumichika.

And if he tilted his head to the side enough, he could just make out Arya, from where she was sitting behind Ichigo. She was staring intently at the back of the orange-haired head in front of her. Or, at least she seemed to be. If he turned farther, he could tell that her eyes were glazed over, her mind clearly elsewhere. And he could see that she kept taping her fingers on her desk, almost rhythmically. He wondered what the hell she was doing. Especially when she made some random humming noise under her breath, causing Ichigo to glance back at her, and her face to turn red.

Realizing he was wasting time wondering about _Arya_ of all people, he frowned and turned back to face the teacher, still droning on about nothing.

The minutes slid by, time seeming to move slower than he ever remembered it moving before, until the bell rang so suddenly that it startled half the glass. Matsumoto's elbow (followed immediately by the upper half of her body) slid off the corner of the desk, Ichigo and Ikkaku both jerked, desks making loud screeching noises on the linoleum, and Arya made another funny noise, like a mouse being stepped on.

Sighing to herself as she collected her things, Arya was immensely glad that it was the end of the day. Her patrol was in the middle of the night. So for the last week, she'd spent the time in between the end of school and the beginning of patrol wandering around the city. Finding some place to train away from prying eyes (both the large number of humans in this city who could see souls and her comrades) was hard to come by.

But the city was so full of things to see. Stores full of those 'CDs' her brother had given her once. The sheer amount of different kinds of music was staggering. She could (and did) spent hours just browsing through the shelves and listening to samples of the massive amounts of genres.

She trailed several steps behind everyone as the group walked down the hall, staring interestedly down at the tops of her shoes, waiting until they reached the front gates so she could slip away from them.

"Arya-san."

She glanced up when the deep voice called her name and stopped suddenly when she ran into the hard chest directly in front of her. Rubbing at her nose, she glanced up. "Chado?"

He tilted his head to the side, gesturing without words for her to step away with him for a moment. As the pair of them walked past the group, Yumichika and Ikkaku's surprise ripple around her.

The Eleventh Division pair watched with dropped jaws as Chad murmured something to her lowly, at which point they felt their eyes widen as they saw her physically hold back a squeal and hug the taller boy. She let him go almost immediately, face as red as fire, but smiling at him. He pointed vaguely down the hall, said something else they couldn't hear handed her something and, still smiling, she walked off down the hall.

When Chad joined the others, there was silence as everyone just stared at each other, wondering who the hell was going to ask.

"What the hell was that?" Ikkaku asked.

In typical Chad fashion, he shrugged, said nothing, and started walking again.

And while everyone else gave one last glance in the direction Arya had gone before following him, Yumichika, curiosity spiked, couldn't help but linger behind. Waiting until her couldn't see them anymore, he turned and followed Arya's path.

-

_The halls of this school are ridiculously quiet after classes_, Yumichika thought to himself, as he wondered the empty halls, looking for his wayward Division mate. And not because he cared either. If anything, this was a perfect opportunity to make fun of her for something… As soon as he figured out what that something was. Maybe it would make her blush again. It was unbecoming to turn so red, it did nothing to improve her features.

Giving a sigh, he planned on giving up and going to join the others when he heard something that made him pause. It sounded like… music.

_Curiosity killed the cat_, he told himself as he followed what he could now tell was piano music. He wondered who had left one of those music players running.

"_I was stained, with a role, in a day, not my own. But as you walked into my life, you showed me what needed to be shown."_

He paused when he reached the door the music was coming from. The sign above the door said, "First Music Room," and he realized with a start that it wasn't a recording. Someone was playing. _And singing_, he added.

"_And I always knew, what was right I just didn't know that I might peel away and choose to see with such a different sight."_

They were good, he decided. Nothing extraordinary, but they didn't hit any wrong notes and the melody of both the piano and the words flowed smoothly together. The voice was soft, melodic. Beautiful.

"_And I will never see the sky the same way and I will learn to say goodbye to yesterday and I will never cease to fly and I will always reach too high cause I've seen, cause I've seen, twilight……"_

He slid the door open as quietly as he could, trying to find out who was playing. The angle was wrong, so he slipped his head in through the crack in the door.

"_Never cared, never wanted, never sought to see what flaunted. So on purpose, so in my face, couldn't see beyond my own place. And-"_

When Ikkaku suddenly yelled his name from down the hall and, in his shock, Yumichika's head shot up at the same time he tried to turn towards his friend and he wound up slamming his forehead into the doorframe, yelping in shock/pain, and accidentally slamming the door open. He dimly heard a gasp echo throughout the music room, accompanied by the sound of someone slamming down on the piano keys in surprise, before Ikkaku was yanking him to his feet and asking him what his problem was.

"I was simply-"

"Aw, who cares? Let's go man, you know we've got first patrol."

Meanwhile, holding a hand to her rapidly beating heart, Arya stood from the piano bench and walked soundlessly to the door, leaning out to watch them go. She couldn't believe Ayasegawa-san had almost seen her playing! She would never live it down if he found out, and she'd never be able to prove herself. Think about it, an Eleventh Division member who sings songs and plays music. Stranger things have never been seen.

Yumichika gave one last glance at the music room over his shoulder, eyes narrowing when he saw a silhouette in the doorway, before Ikkaku tugged him forward again. Arya, seeing his eyes stray back, instinctively drew back from the opening, and back into the dark doorframe and the safety of the classroom, and waited until the sound of the fifth-seat's footsteps proved he really had gone away before she quickly slipped out of the room and into the hall, leaving in the opposite direction.

Reaching the entrance to the school, she glanced around swiftly, and, seeing the area clear of anyone, pulled out the slip of paper she'd shoved into pocket earlier. Chado had handed it to after telling her where the music room was. She'd been watching him strum cords on his guitar one day and, when she'd seen him having trouble with one, had helped him out. Which led to her briefly telling him that her brother had given her a guitar. Chado must have remembered her saying she enjoyed the piano more, though.

The paper he'd given her, he said, was from Nova-san, who had gotten it from Urahara-san to give to her. The messy handwriting was an invitation, albeit a flamboyant one, since it was from Urahara Kisuke, after all. The point of the note being that he'd trained, at least indirectly, every one of her comrades, both shinigami and human, at one point or another, and was wondering if she would like to partake in (what he called) "the joys of his training."

She felt one corner of her mouth twitch in amusement as she wondered what it would have been like if Urahara had been her Captain. He seemed like an interesting person. Shaking her head, and stuffing the note back into her pocket, she gave one more glance around the quad before flash-stepping to the Shoten.

She was met at the door by a red-headed boy chasing a dark-haired girl with a broom. Jinta and Ururu, is she recalled correctly. She stood out in the yard, unsure of what to do, until a giant of a man (Tessai, he mind supplied), ducked out the door and picked the boy up by the back of his shirt. She stepped forward just as he was threatening Jinta to tell the owner about this.

"Um… excuse me…" Arya called out softly, not knowing if she should have waited before taking Urahara-san up on his offer.

Eyes falling on her (of, at least she thought so, it was kind of hard to tell with the dark-tinted glasses) and he dropped the boy. "Arya-dono!" He called out as he walked towards her, pulled her in front of him, and started to push her forward. "The owner is waiting for you downstairs."

"Downstairs?" She echoed, confused, not remembering stairs the last time she was here. "Where-" That was the last thing she got out, before the floor vanished from underneath her and she was suddenly falling.

She barely had time to give out one high-pitched screech, before she fell bridal-style into someone's arms. Heart raising and eyes wide in shock she glanced up to see who had caught her and was met with blond hair and grey eyes hidden by a white-and-green hat.

"Well, look who decided to drop in," Kisuke sing-songed, a wide grin on his face.

Face flushing, she scrambled out of his arms and bowed, the tips of her hair streaming the ground and sending up puffs of dust. "I am so sorry, Urahara-san! I should have been paying more attention, and I apologize-"

"Hey there," he interrupted, "I told you before, there was no need to be so polite." He set his hand on top of her bowed head, rubbing her hair affectionately, before walking past her. "Now, I offered to train you, right?"

"Uh, h-hai!" She chirped, straightening and spinning to follow him. Only to stop abruptly when she noticed he was now standing with a beautiful dark-skinned woman with slanted cat-eyes. "Um… Konnichiwa," she greeted shyly.

The woman nodded her greeting. "You're Kurosawa Arya, correct?" Arya nodded. "I'm Shihouin Yoruichi. Kisuke asked me to help you train."

Brown eyes widened at the name. "You're the Goddess of Flash!" She exclaimed, before slapping her hand over her mouth in mortification.

Yoruichi grinned at her. "That's what they call me!" She jerked a thumb at the blond beside her and continued, "We decided you'd probably need the most help with kido and shunpu, since you're in Zaraki's division."

Arya smiled, a little sadly, at the description. That's pretty much what people thought of her division. The other squads taught demon magic and flash-steps. But she was a part of the Eleventh Division. And they just didn't hold with such nonsense.

"Yoruichi-san is perfect to train with for shunpu!" Kisuke said, vanishing for a moment, and reappearing on an outcropping a ways away. "Then I'll assist you with your kido!" He yelled at them through his cupped hands.

"Ready to begin?" Yoruichi asked, when the girl's gaze slid from the blond the her. "Let's see how fast you are."

Arya nodded stiffly and bowed to the woman, her eyes never leaving the golden eyes of her new trainer. It was the kind of bow you give to someone when you're not exactly sure that the person across from you won't attack you the moment you look down.

"Hai sensei," she murmured. And then they both disappeared.

_

* * *

_

Turn off the lights and turn off the shyness

_Cause all of our moves made up for the silence  
__And oh, the way your makeup stains my pillowcase  
__Like I'll never be the same._

* * *

**A/N:** The song she sings is by Vanessa Carlton and is called "Twilight." I'm going to be using all Vanessa Carlton songs for she, because that's what I want her voice to sound like. It's girly and pretty, something people won't expect to come out of Arya's mouth. And it's not too over-the-top like Christina Aguilera or Mariah Carey. And also, there's a lot of piano music involved, and I want Arya to play the piano. So there. XP

1. Yes, Chad calls her Arya-san and she calls him Chado. I write it as Chado when she speaks because some of the characters (in the Japanese version anyway) call him Chad, while some say Chado. I'm doing this for preference and because, since they're living together, I feel they should get alone well. And they're quiet anyway, it's not like they'll talk a lot.

2. Yes, Chad has a guitar. That is canon, I did not make it up. Ichigo has one, too.

3. Tessai has the tendency to add '-dono' to the end of people's names. Arya is no exception.

4. The song I chose for this chapter, really only kind of gets across what I wanted it to. At the beginning it says they wanted to be like someone else and then the line at the end "turn off the lights and turn off the shyness" is kind of about being yourself. And I kind of feel that this is where Arya is right now. With Yumichika and Ikkaku and some of the others, she's still that shy, quiet, lower-ranked Eleventh Division member. But now's she's starting to have people she can be friends with. Chad and Nova. And now Urahara and Yoruichi are the teachers she never got to have in the 11th. So yeah, that's why I did it.

And SUPER SORRY about the wait! I actually think this chapter came of kind of bad. I think I'm just anxious to get to writing all the fluffy-romance. Lol.

Reviews are welcome! (And adored.)


	5. More Than Useless

**Title:** A Certain Slant Of Light  
**Genre:** Romance… some angst I suppose.  
**Rating:** T… For some language, tell me if it's high enough, I have a bad mouth.  
**Pairing:** Yumichika x OC, eventual mentions of others  
**Spoilers:** Uhhh… none?  
**Summary:** You do not love a woman because she is beautiful, but she is beautiful because you love her.  
**Word Count:** 1,774  
**Warnings:** I have a horrible mouth, I tone it down for the fics, but well, with _Bleach_ I have more opportunities to use it. Ha!

**Disclaimer:** Let's see… _Bleach_ belongs to Tite Kubo, the summery quote is _Anonymous_, the title belongs to Laura Whitcomb, song lyrics and chapter title belong to Reliant K and Yumi belongs to me… Yeah, I said it… wanna FIGHT?! (Okay, fine, I shall share him with DelMarch for fear of bodily harm. XP)

**A/N:** Because I love Yumichika, and there are so not enough stories where he's.. well… straight. Lol.

_

* * *

_

I feel like, I would like

_To be somewhere else doing something that matters  
__And I'll admit here, while I sit here  
__My mind wastes away and my thoughts seem to gather  
__What's the purpose? It feels worthless  
__So unwanted like I've lost all my value  
__I can't find it, not in the least bit  
__And I'm just scared, so scared that I'll fail you_

* * *

To his credit, Urahara masked his shock surprisingly well. His eyes widened for a few moments, before he plastered his usual happy-go-lucky expression on his face, tapping his closed fan against his lips as he watched their nearly invisible movements.

Suddenly, the two women slid to a stop, clouds of brown dust at their feet. Yoruichi let her gaze stray from Arya, whose leg muscles were still tensed to move at any second, and over to Kisuke. She shrugged.

Turning back to the girl, the ex-Captain ran an appraising eye over her. She was breathing a little hard, but nothing bad, which was surprising, considering both the speed they had been moving at and how long they had been doing it. She wasn't as fast as Yoruichi was, she didn't have a high enough reiatsu to be that fast, or even as fast as Soifon, Kisuke, or Byakuya. But she was faster than Yoruichi had expected her to be.

"Has Zaraki changed his training regime to include flash-steps," she asked.

"Nothing changed Zaraki-taicho," Arya said softly, straightening from her slightly crouched position. "He's like a mountain. He'd just there."

"An Eleventh Division member that skilled in something other than zanjutsu is rare," Urahara said, appearing beside them.

Arya averted her eyes. "I'm not skilled."

"Nonsense!" The blond said, arms waving erratically. "While your speed isn't the same as Yoruichi's or mine, it's better than anyone in your own division, since they tend to not know it at all." He stared at her for a moment. "Would you mind me asking how you've learned shunpu so well? From what I understand, the Eleventh is the only division you've been in. And they don't teach shunpu to that extent in the Academy.

"Naichingeru," she said softly, placing one hand on the hilt of her sword.

"Your zanpaktou?" He asked, eyebrows furrowing in thought. He glanced sideways at Yoruichi, before turning back to Arya. "Would you mind if I sparred with you for a moment, Arya-chan?"

She seemed startled. "N-no."

"Excellent!" He tightened his grip on his cane and Arya was startled to watch him pull a blade from it. A shikomizue…

Urahara watched as Arya gave his zanpaktou a quick once-over, before her hand was back on her own sword and drawing it. Kisuke saw that it was a fairly unremarkable looking katana. And that was the only look he got it before Arya disappeared like the morning fog.

He turned when he felt a brush of wind behind him, lifting Benihime to block her downward strike. He noticed that their wasn't much pressure behind the strike. But she was gone before he could retaliate and push back at her.

Her next swing came from the side, a low sweeping blow that would have taken off his legs if he hadn't jumped over it. And then she was gone again, a straight blow aimed at his stomach that he twisted out of the way of. Urahara used his momentum to swing at her unprotected left side, but she was gone again, darting out of reach with several flash steps.

He stopped moving, pleased when she immediately did the same, and stared at her appraisingly.

"What do you think, Kisuke?" Yoruichi asked, appearing beside him.

Urahara said nothing for a long moment, staring at Arya. She lowered her zanpaktou to her side and stared silently back, waiting for his judgment.

There wasn't much strength behind anything she did, he couldn't feel much power behind any of her blows, but she was quick. When you were fast enough to get behind you enemy before he could even see you move, did it really matter how hard you punched or swung your sword? She'd never be faster than Yoruichi or Byakuya or anyone like that, but if she trained long enough, she might be able to get close enough to hold her own. She was young enough that she could still progress with training.

"How's your kido?" He asked finally.

"I-" She shook her head. "I know what we were taught in the Academy, but it's not something I'm very good at."

He nodded, before grinning from ear-to-ear, whipping out his fan from who-knows-where. "Well then!" He said, sheathing his sword and flicking his fan open, "I think you should train with us! After all, I, Urahara Kisuke, will-"

"What he means to say," Yoruichi cut in, "is that, we could help you hone your shunpu. And extra training with your sword probably wouldn't be unhelpful either. So?" She grinned at Arya, "What do ya say?"

"I-" Arya gaped at the pair. Since graduating from the Academy, she'd never had someone to train with. The Eleventh Division members prided themselves on their personal strength, and when they did train, it was in violent training spars. Arya wasn't good at things like that, so she trained the only way she knew how, which was how Naichingeru told her to train. And that didn't involve kido or many sword techniques. Those weren't things Naichingeru was good at. And now, she'd have people to train her in other things. Things that would maybe help her become stronger. She gave them both a hesitant smile. "I'll do it!"

-

Thirty minutes later, after taking a little bit to train by herself, Arya climbed up the never ending ladder. She sighed when she reached the top. "What a climb," she muttered to herself, not realizing their was someone else in the entranceway.

"Suck it up, buttercup."

Arya gave a short scream in shock, spinning around and staring wide-eyed at Ikkaku, who was sprawled across the front step, and Yumichika, who was seated elegantly beside him. Her heart was beating out of her chest. "G-gomen," she stuttered. "I didn't see-"

"Don't care," the third seat said, sitting up. "We just came to tell you it's your shift."

"O-okay. Thank-you."

The pair rolled their eyes as they stood. "Whatever, Kurosawa," Yumichika said, following his friend into the sitting area. "If you get injured, don't come back here." He sneered at her. "The Eleventh Division would be better off." And then the door slid closed behind the pair.

Arya stared at the door for a long moment, wondering what it would have been like if her brother had never died, or if she was stronger, or if the people in her division actually liked her.

_Wondering about it won't change anything…_

Sighing, she turned and headed out the front door. _I know Naichingeru_, she thought back, _I just…. never mind…_

_You should make the best of what you have_. Her zanpaktou's voice was delicate, a young woman's voice, very lyrical and lilting.

_Maybe you're right_…

_Oh course!_ Naichingeru chirped perkily. _I'm always right!_

Arya chuckled softly to herself as she leapt onto the nearest rooftop and started to flashstep through the city. Her zanpaktou was always so positive, almost like a child, it was hard to be depressed when speaking with her.

-

The next few hours were filled with meaningless shunpu, traveling from rooftop to rooftop. The amount of Hollows in the city tonight was almost nonexistent. She wondered if the new Hollows they were here to learn about really _were_ Aizen's, and he was bidding his time for something. Or maybe she was over thinking things.

The next thing she knew, the building to her left exploded in a shower of concrete and glass. Rolling to the side and covering her face, she sprang to her feet, sword drawn, staring at the Hollow that had appeared suddenly.

It was large, walking four-legged like some sort of great cat, but it's mask looked more like a great insect. And whereas a cat would have had one lashing tail, this creature had several, who lashed behind it like they had minds of their own.

Moving slowly, so as not to attract its attention, Arya stood so that her zanpaktou was held in front of her chest, perpendicular to her body. Running her left hand down the blade, she said, "Yasashii no Utau." The blade started to glow a soft green. "Naichingeru."

When the glow around her zanpaktou faded, Naichingeru had changed into a longer, slender blade, the hilt was wrapped in a dark green ribbon, that trailed from the end of sword.

The increase of reiatsu from her releasing her sword, caused the Hollow to swing it's head in her direction and she stared at the creature with interest as he gave out a hair-raising screech for no apparent reason.

When it lunged forward, great mouth open wide, Arya flashstep-ed to the side, and reappeared behind the Hollow. Raising Naichingeru high over her head, she brought the blade down, slicing clean through the mask from behind, landing lightly on the group as it dissipated. Standing slowly, she glanced around. She felt no pleasure in killing Hollows, no pride in slaying them, just relief that she was still alive.

_You really are too sweet to be a shinigami, Arya-chan_.

Glancing down at her blade, Arya gently ran her free hand along the ribbon trailing from the hilt.

"Are you alright?"

Arya glanced up at the sudden question, eyes widening when she took in Ichigo in his shinigami robes, zanpaktou in his hand. "I- Yes. I'm fine, Kurosaki-san," she answered, confused as to what, exactly, he was doing there.

"Oh." He relaxed from his tense position, placing Zangetsu on his back. "My badge went off and well…" He rubbed at the back of his neck.

Arya didn't say anything. She had heard the stories about how Ichigo was always charging into battle. He seemed the type who didn't like to know that others were fighting when he could do it. She understood his need to protect his friends, even if she wasn't one of those people.

"I heard from Chad that you're gonna be training with Urahara-san."

"Hm? Oh, yes. And Yoruichi-san, as well."

"Well," he said, looking off to the side, "good luck with that, they're both crazy."

"I- yes."

Looking back at her, he said, "I should probably go, it looks like you've got things under control sorry to bother you, Kurosawa."

"It's- it's not a problem," she said softly, as he turned and prepared to leave.

"See you in class tomorrow," he said with an over-the-shoulder wave. "Sayonara."

She watched his disappear with a burst of shunpu. "Hai. Sayonara." And then she was alone.

_Arya-chan?_

Shaking her head, she smiled down at Naichingeru. "It's nothing. Just thinking." She gave a glance back to where Ichigo had disappeared to. "I think… I think I could be friends with some of the people here. That would be… nice."

_

* * *

_

And sometimes I think, that I'm not any good at all

_And sometimes I wonder why, why I'm even here at all  
__But then you assure me  
__I'm a little more than useless  
__And when I think that I can't do this  
__You promise me that I'll get through this  
__And do something right  
__Do something right for once_

* * *

A/N: Wow, this chapter sucks it all.

1. Once again, "Naichingeru" means "nightingale"  
2. I seem to have forgotten to have Arya leave her gigai before she began her training. So, uhhh, yeah, just, image that she did that before beginning with Yoruichi, kay?  
3. A "shikomizue" is a Japanese concealed sword that's disguised as a cane or a walking stick. I'm not sure if they ever use this word to describe Benihime, but, from what I can see, that's what she is.  
4. I said Arya wasn't as strong as the others in her division, not that she wasn't strong _at all_. Rukia doesn't even hold a seat and she can release her zanpaktou, so I want no lip about Arya being able to release hers.  
5. "Yasashii no Utau" translates approximately to "sing sweet." And if anyone knows where I got the phrase "Sing sweet, Nightingale," you are as much of a retard as I am.  
6. No, she does not have a crush on Ichigo. And no, Ichigo does not have a crush on her. Friends means friends people. That's all.


	6. Flat On The Floor

**Title:** A Certain Slant Of Light  
**Genre:** Romance… some angst I suppose.  
**Rating:** T… For some language, tell me if it's high enough, I have a bad mouth.  
**Pairing:** Yumichika x OC, eventual mentions of others  
**Spoilers:** Uhhh… none?  
**Summary:** You do not love a woman because she is beautiful, but she is beautiful because you love her.  
**Word Count:** 2,420  
**Warnings:** I have a horrible mouth, I tone it down for the fics, but well, with _Bleach_ I have more opportunities to use it. Ha!

**Disclaimer:** Let's see… _Bleach_ belongs to Tite Kubo, the summery quote is _Anonymous_, the title belongs to Laura Whitcomb, song lyrics and chapter title belong to Nickelback and Yumi belongs to me… Yeah, I said it… wanna FIGHT?! (Okay, fine, I shall share him with DelMarch for fear of bodily harm. XP)

**A/N:** Because I love Yumichika, and there are so not enough stories where he's.. well… straight. Lol.

**Note:** Explanation for obscenely long delay at bottom.

* * *

_Not like I need to depend on anyone  
__Since I can see the lack of need for me to be here at all  
__One more the anthem for the know-it-all_

_I won't be standin' up for long I better learn how to craw  
__Learn how to crawl  
__In ten minutes I'll be layin' out flat on the floor._

* * *

After her impromptu meeting with Ichigo, Arya's night was uneventful. It seemed that the weak Hollow she fought was one of only a few weak ones to show up in Karakura since their mission had started. She could understand now, why Ichigo had shown up so suddenly when he felt a fight. It was so boring being on patrol with nothing to do.

Arya wasn't a combat junkie like the rest of her division, but she was bored, too. She might not enjoy the killing and slaying, but she enjoyed the fight, or at least, the grace involved with fighting. It reminded her of playing the piano. If you did things in the correct order, it all flowed together so seamlessly.

Well, it's not like she'd had a chance to fight lately. Like Ichigo had said when they'd first shown up, there'd been less and less of the small Hollows and more of the big fry. She'd learned at the debriefing Hitsugaya called for, that he and Matsumoto had engaged in battle with one of those strange new Hollows one afternoon.

"It was strange," Hitsugaya said, a frown marring his face. "They looked like… Arrancar, but, at the same time, not. And their manner of attack was like nothing I have ever come across. I'm not sure if it's echolocation, like we thought originally. It's more intricate than that, I just can't figure it out. It's… infuriating."

Matsumoto was nodding emphatically beside him. "It was almost like the thing knew what we were gonna do before we even did it. And then it attacked back in the perfect way to stop out own attacks. Even my Haineko only hit it once," she pouted.

But that was a week ago and so far, nothing had happened since. Renji had destroyed a Hollow three days ago, and Renji had managed to snag one yesterday morning before classes, but those had been the only ones in an entire week of patrols. It was started to make Arya nervous. It was starting to make _everyone_ nervous. The calm before the storm.

And now Arya was standing on some random building in Karakura, wind whipping around her, robes and hair flying around her in disarray, as she waited (hoped even) that something would happen, if only to break up the monotony of her watch.

But nothing was happening, so she left the roof, flash-stepping aimlessly around the city, until her feet led her to one of the parks on the outskirts of Karakura. There she paused, glancing around at the slide, the jungle-gym, the swing set, with its swings creakily swinging back and forth. She'd never noticed how creepy a playground was a night.

Her eyes trailed away from the equipment, glancing towards the forest that surrounded the park, shadows twisting on the ground, leaves swaying, strange rustling, the snap of branches, the hiss of the wind through the trees. The forest was filled with noise. But the night… was quiet. The partial moon overhead, the sparkling stars. The night was so silent it could hold anything. And Arya was getting a bad feeling that it _was_ hiding something. Something was prowling out there in the darkness.

Just as she took a hesitant step backwards, her communicator went off, beeping irritatingly as it signaled the arrival of a Hollow. Pulling it out without looking away from the ominous woods in front of her, she flipped it open and glanced down. And was only a little surprised to learn that the Hollow had appeared in the woods somewhere before her.

With a disgusted sigh at irony of life in general, she took a few steps into the forest, immediately becoming half-blind as what little light the moon vanished under the branches of the trees. Slowly, very slowly, she made her way through the underbrush, following the reiatsu that suddenly appeared as the Hollow finally crossed into the human world. She hoped it was in an open space, there was no room to fight with all these trees so close together.

And surprisingly, fate was on her side in this case, because, when she passed through the next copse of trees, the forest gave way to a clearing, and it was in the middle of the clearing that the Hollow stood, bathed in moonlight, seemingly waiting for her. How strange. Usually they actively sought out souls as soon as they crossed from one world to the other.

And it looked so different then the Hollows she knew of. Most were entirely animalistic in appearance. The Arrancar were humanoid, but with only fractions of their masks left on their faces.

This one's face, much like a vaizard, was completely covered in a mask, smooth and curved, with slanted slits for eyes. Its body was mostly human, and Arya _would_ have called it a vaizard if it weren't for the fact that it had other Hollow attributes, too. A lashing serpent's tail. And though it had human legs to its knees, below them it had scaled legs, ending in talons. It looked almost like… almost as if someone who had been in the process of turning into a Hollow, had been stopped halfway through the process.

Then it turned its bone-covered head in her direction and Arya froze when its reiatsu washed over her like a summer storm. It was strong. It was _really_ strong. Stronger than any normal Hollow. It was no Espada, not even a fraccion, but… it was stronger than she could deal with on her own.

Releasing her zanpaktou, she slid back one of her leg, falling into a battle stance, her sword held perpendicular to her face. All the while, the Hollow stood still and silent, it's reiatsu rolling so powerful and cold that it made Arya's stomach churn in nervous fear.

She took a deep breath, to ground herself, and shifted her weight back on one leg, preparing to move. It was probably best to end this as quickly as possible. She disappeared in a flurry of flash-steps, reappearing behind the creature. She swung quickly, aiming to knock its head from its shoulders.

But the Hollow reached up, without ever turning its head and grabbed her sword by the blade, stopping her suddenly and making her eyes widen in shock. Then it turned it head slowly, so slowly, and stared at her from the corner of one golden serpentine eye. She felt a momentary panic, made a valiant effort to pull her sword from its grasp. But it was useless, its hold was too strong.

It reached around and, with its other arm, took her by her long hair and yanked her head back, making her release Naichingeru and yelp in pain. And then he flung her away as lightly as if she had been a fly, flinging her zanpaktou in the opposite direction.

Coughing and holding a hand to her midsection, she forced herself upright, watching in terror as the Hollow stalked towards her like a lazy feline. Taking several breaths, she tried to calm herself.

She was a member of the Eleventh Division, serving under Zaraki Kenpachi. And she would hold this creature off on her own, until someone showed up, or she would die trying. She really didn't _want_ to die, but well, such was the life of a shinigami. And to die protecting this town, where she felt she had friends, to die protecting Soul Society, and her division members, whom she cared for in some strange, twisted way, well, that was as noble a death as anyone could hope for.

She knew that, the closest of her companions to this location were Ikkaku and Yumichika, and she hoped like hell they would help her when they searched out the source of energy, but finding herself not absolutely certain that they would. Maybe they would save her accidentally?

Squaring her shoulders, she frowned, glaring at the slowly approaching creature, and left hand, palm facing outwards, in front of her. "O Lord, mask of flesh and bone-"

One could only hope.

-

Meanwhile, only a mile or so in some direction or another, Ikkaku and Yumichika were startled awake by the incessant being of their phones.

Yumichika groaned as he listened to Ikkaku fumble with the thing, mumbling about the interruption of his 'beauty sleep.'

"Oi, it looks like one of the strange ones Hitsugaya-taicho was yammerin' about last week." Yumichika didn't move, so Ikkaku leaned over to the futon his friend was sleeping on and shoved him rudely. "Oi. Kurosawa's over there. Let's get there quick so we can watch her get sixed."

He got a groan as his reply, but Yumichika sat up, trying to fix his bed-head.

"Good, you're awake Sleeping Beauty. Now let's go."

"Alright, alright. Being so pushy is not a beautiful trait to possess you know," he answered, reaching for his gikongan.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," was his answer, as the two shed their gigais and leapt out the window.

It only took them a few moments to reach the clearing where Arya was fighting with the Hollow. Though maybe 'fighting' wasn't such an apt term. She was… dancing around it. Never getting close for too long. She looked more like she was trying to keep its attention, rather than trying to destroy it. Disgraceful.

"You've managed – well, nothing," Yumichika said disdainfully as he glanced around, noticing the fiery marks left but what he knew were kido spells.

"Ayasegawa-san!" Arya said, pivoting towards him at the sound of his voice. "Madarame-san!" She cried at the sight of the other man. "Thank goodness!"

"Oh, stop crying punkass," Ikkaku sneered, twirling his released zanpaktou around one hand.

Arya sucked in her breath abruptly. "Yes, sorry, I mean- ugh!" Her apology was cut off abruptly when the Hollow appeared next to her and delivered a roundhouse kick to her midsection, sending her tumbling heels over head backwards, sliding to a stop in front of her two division-mates. She groaned.

"Move your ass, skippy," Ikkaku step, striding purposely towards the Hollow, stepping on the back of Arya's hand in the process.

She grunted and forced herself upright, reaching out to pick up Naichingeru, ignoring the throbbing coming from the back of her hand as she did so. For a moment, she just stood and watched Ikkaku fight. Like most of the Eleventh Division, Ikkaku was completely fearless and deadly in battle. And it didn't seem to bother him that the Hollow was easily blocking every single one of his attacks. He just kept attacking. And the Hollow just kept blocking.

Yumichika, now standing next to the girl, glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. They stood half under the trees, and she had no color in the shadows and moonlight, except the long, dark curtain of her hair and the dark pools of her eyes. He saw her dark brows draw downwards as she frowned and stepped closer to the fight, her face etched with concentration.

The fifth seat turned more towards her when she stepped farther into the clearing. The silvery light washed away the dark circles under her eyes, the hollowness of her cheekbones. It shined silver in eyes Yumichika knew to be a murky brown and made her hair glow like… well, something brown that glowed. It smoothed out the lines on her face, made you overlook the crookedness of her nose. The pale moonlight made her look young and vulnerable and, yes, Yumichika thought, definitely somewhat pretty.

He watched her, wondering why she seemed so captivated by the fight, wondering the steady, watchful, _intent_ look on her face. Ikkaku leapt high into the air, yelling obscenities, bringing Houzukimaru down over the Hollow's head. When the Hollow reached up and caught the staff, her frown deepened.

"Kurosawa?"

She started, turning to him abruptly. She seemed disconcerted. Her confusion was… almost childlike, and struck him forcefully. Yumichika considered Kurosawa to be many things, but _childish_ was not one of them. She might be weak and quiet and rather unimpressive, but no shinigami held onto childhood after their first mission.

"What are you-"

He was cut off when Ikkaku yelled something indistinctly and she whipped back around. When the Hollow once again stopped the bald man's attack (this time flinging him backwards through a tree) her eyes widened.

"I've got it," she whispered.

Yumichika frowned, nose crinkling in confusion. "Pardon?"

She spun towards him at his voice, eyes bright and positively _beaming_. He took a step back in shock, but she grabbed in by the shoulders in her excitement and practically shook him. "I've got it!"

Letting him go so abruptly only his stubbornness kept him from stumbling, she adjusted her grip on her sword and took a purposeful stride forward. The Hollow was staring at Ikkaku, as he pulled himself out of the rubble and Yumichika watched with interest as Kurosawa tapped her toes on the ground a few times and adjusted her stance, feet together, arm out by her side at an angle, so the tip of Naichingeru was just above the ground.

She smirked when the Hollow turned towards her, and Yumichika was shocked to see such an expression on shy, quiet, docile Kurosawa's face. He'd excepted her to be dead when he and Ikkaku got there. Wasn't this a pleasant surprise.

"Chowa suru," she said slowly and clearly, "Naichingeru." And then swung her sword in a crescent shape in front of her, from one side to the other.

The Hollow cocked his head to the side when nothing happened and Yumichika covered his face with a hand. Typical. She acted all sure of herself, almost arrogant –

The Hollow disappeared.

- and when she finally pulls out her counterattack –

It reappeared behind her.

- nothing happened. How useless. –

And Kurosawa blocked it without even turning to look at it.

Yumichika didn't know who was more surprised. Him, or the Hollow. And he was sure his jaw literally dropped when Arya spun around, easily swinging her blade down through the Hollow's mask, even as she blocked its next blow with her free hand.

She watched with interest as it dissipated, almost like she was looking for something. And that's when Ikkaku wandered over, patting the dirt off of himself and looking dumbstruck.

"What the hell?!"

She turned, glancing between the two shinigami who were staring at her with wide-eyes, and was silent for a moment. Then her face broke out into an ear-to-ear grin.

"I think we should meet with Hitsugaya-taicho now."

* * *

_Eight minutes and I'm losin' it a little bit  
__Five minutes and your description might be startin' to fit  
__Three to go and I'm forgettin' all that I've ever known  
__I won't be standin' up for long I gotta learn how to crawl._

**

* * *

**

**A/N: **Okay, yeah, so school this semester has been absolutely _insane_. I thought it would be hard, but it's killing me. Like, literally. I think I have an ulcer. I hardly ever sleep for doing school crap. And I'm _still_ failing Anatomy. Crap-tastic. I might be going on vacation for a few days in April, so maybe I can get some more chapters churned out then, but don't hold your breath. I have to take two Critical Thinking tests in the next month. And well, that's my excuse. Real Life is a bitch.

Also, _PurpleHaze09_, you will be getting an email from me in not too long. It's been like forever, I know, but my Internet has bee doing this funky thing loading pages, I'm blaming my brother for taking up all the Bandwidth. But I think we've fixed it. So, yeah, except that soon. Also, I updated before you! Lol.

1. Song only makes a slight amount of sense. But I had a hard time finding one I liked, so, this is what you get.

2. The kido spell that Arya starts is Hado No. 33, Soukatsu ("pale fire crash")

3. "Chowa suru" is the definition I found for 'harmonize.' The sub-translation was to 'be in accord with' and that's the closest I could get to the musical aspect of harmonization.

4. And thanks to everyone who reviewed! Sorry if I didn't get back to you, but, I appreciate that ya'll like my story!

5. And kudos to _Dorkchic_, who knew that Arya's release phrase, "Sing sweet, Nightingale" is from Disney's Cinderella. Fear us, for we are dorks!


End file.
